Death by Invitation Read online

  Mattheus could understand that, for sure.

  “Not that our daughter was much better,” Stan continued and stopped walking then. He looked Mattheus out of the corner of his eye. “If you ask me, Fern took after her mother.”

  “Really?” Mattheus felt dismayed.

  “Listen, the story is that men are rotten. But all of the women cheat, too,” Stan grumbled. “Fern was a really wild gal, with plenty of boyfriends, who liked to have fun.”

  “What work did she do?” asked Mattheus, startled to hear this from her own father.

  “After she graduated college, she worked in a small boutique selling expensive diamonds,” said Stan. “Met plenty of high rollers there, too.”

  “But she stuck with Dale?” asked Mattheus.

  “Yeah, she did,” Stan replied. “They broke up a few times but then always came back together. There was some magnet between them that drew them back. A dark magnet if you asked me.”

  Mattheus couldn’t help think of his relationship with Cindy then, how it also got rocky and then smoothed out. It also felt like a magnet between them drew them back to each other time and again. Not a dark magnet though, not at all.

  “You know, I heard one of Fern’s old boyfriends, Kirk, is down at the hotel. He came to the party,” Stan suddenly recalled.

  “A guy at a bachelorette party?” asked Mattheus.

  “After he and Fern broke up they stayed friends. Kirk cared about Fern. Kirk’s got a new girlfriend now, Rowe, and she’s also down at the party with him. I heard Kirk’s freaking out about what happened to Fern. He always hated Dale.”

  Mattheus made a note to himself to find Kirk and speak to him. In fact, he planned to dig into Dale’s complete background. Nothing about him would stay hidden for long.

  “If Kirk was such a good guy, why did Fern choose Dale?” Mattheus asked, half to himself.

  “Fern liked the bad boys, went for excitement. Neither Carole nor I trusted Dale for a second. But Carole was so preoccupied with her own love life that Fern fell to the wayside,” said Stan.

  “Sorry to hear that,” Mattheus rumbled, the entire conversation stirring up old doubts and fears.

  “Dale’s father was talking about coming down. But if Dale gets out of jail, he’s just going to wait for him to get home. His father’s got all kinds of money, too, who knows from where?”

  Mattheus was determined to dig up everything possible on both Dale and his family. The waves smacked on the shore as they kept walking. Mattheus rolled the entire scenario over in his mind. None of it felt good, not any of it. The more he found out, the more inevitable Fern’s death seemed. It sounded as if she’d been horribly upset about her parents’ breakup. Mattheus wondered if in some unconscious way, she’d asked for this.

  “Do you think Fern egged Dale on?” Mattheus asked tentatively then. “Not that it excuses anything, of course.”

  “No, it doesn’t excuse anything,” Stan agreed, “and yes, I’m sure she egged him on. But if you ask me, you can’t trust any woman, they’re all filled with tricks and games.”

  Mattheus suddenly felt shaken and sad. It was particularly unnerving hearing this from his old mentor and friend.

  “How about you and your bride?” Stan went on. “You got a good woman, Mattheus? Remember what happened with your last marriage. You sure as hell don’t want to go through that again.”

  “I sure as hell don’t,” Mattheus agreed, swallowing hard.

  “Take it from me.” Stan stopped walking and looked out into the sea. “Be very careful. Don’t jump into anything if you’re not one hundred percent positive it’s gonna be good for you over the long haul. Your whole life’s at stake. It’s too big a risk.”

  Chapter Ten

  When Mattheus left Stan, he kept thinking about their visit and mulling over what Stan had said. Stan had always been right about so many things; how could his life have turned into such a shipwreck? Could he be right now, too, warning Mattheus about his wedding? Mattheus shuddered as he headed back to the hotel. Naturally he harbored doubts about his relationship with Cindy; that was normal, everyone did. He also realized that he and Cindy had their whole lives ahead of them to work things out. But what if they didn’t? What if Stan’s words held a grain of truth?

  Mattheus returned to the hotel quickly, eager to see Cindy again and ease the pressure that was building inside. When he walked into their room, she was nowhere to be seen. Was she downstairs in the bar talking to someone? Who was she talking to, a girl or a guy? He’d seen Lance looking at Cindy admiringly; could she be down there with him?

  Mattheus immediately recognized his old miserable jealousy returning and stopped himself right away. “Cindy,” he called out loudly, a bit of an edge in his voice. “Where did you go?”

  In a minute Cindy came to the door of the patio. She’d been out there, all the while.

  “Hi,” she said, happy to see him. “I’m so glad you’re back. I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Ashamed, Mattheus felt a pit in his stomach. “I didn’t know where you were,” he said sheepishly, ashamed.

  Cindy looked surprised. “I’m right here,” she replied, “how far could I go? I was waiting to hear how things went with Stan, and also researching Fern’s social media. I thought we discussed that?”

  Of course they had, thought Mattheus. They’d discussed everything a million times and there was no need to go over them once again now. All his ridiculous suspicions had to be quashed instantly, before they intensified, disrupting the beautiful life he and Cindy were about to embark upon. Mattheus suddenly became nervous about letting this waiting period continue. He didn’t want to postpone the wedding even one more day.

  “Listen, this case could take longer than we thought,” Mattheus started as Cindy gazed at him. “The whole thing is making me nervous. How about we get married today?”

  Cindy looked completely blindsided. “Today? What are you talking about?”

  “In a few hours.” Mattheus was on a roll.

  Cindy looked agitated. “What are you talking about? Most of our guests haven’t even arrived.”

  “We can get married quietly.” Mattheus went over to her. “No one has to know. Then when everyone comes we’ll have a huge party. There will be plenty of time to celebrate then.”

  “You want a shotgun wedding?” Cindy tried to make a joke of it, though she wasn’t smiling. “Are we hiding something, Mattheus?”

  “Of course not.” He was stung.

  “How do you think my family will feel if there’s no ceremony, just a huge party afterwards?” Cindy was trying to talk sense to him. “How will everyone feel? Ripped off.”

  “It’s not about how others feel, it’s about us,” Mattheus interrupted. “I’m not getting married to make anyone else happy.”

  “I don’t get it,” Cindy said quietly, not computing what was going on. “What happened to upset you so much?”

  Mattheus wasn’t going to tell her about his talk with Stan, the dire warnings he’d made and what it had sparked inside of Mattheus.

  “There’s nothing to get.” Mattheus stepped away. “There’s always one thing after another that gets in our way. I don’t want to hang in the middle like this, waiting for a day that will never come.”

  “Why won’t it come?” Waves of fear arose in Cindy. Was he subtly telling her he’d changed his mind?

  “We came down here to get married, Cindy,” Mattheus continued fervently. “Let’s just do it before there’s more trouble down the road.”

  “What kind of trouble?” Cindy asked, coldly.

  “There’s got to be a justice of the peace around who can tie the knot for us.” Mattheus barely heard her question.

  Cindy had enough. “I have no intention of getting married by a random justice of the peace who’s secretly tying the knot,” she exclaimed. “It feels weird, Mattheus, like we’re running away from something.”

  “We are,” Mattheus exclaimed.

  “From what?” Cindy felt as though her world was being pulled apart again, as though the ground she’d been standing on was giving away. What had frightened Mattheus so much? Why were his old doubts returning? Cindy knew people often got cold feet at weddings, but this was too much.

  Alarmed, Cindy turned away and walked back outside, leaned on the railing of the patio and looked out at the sea. The waves were finally calming down after the storm. But another storm had arisen and it was scattering their plans wildly around on the shore. Had Stan said something to Mattheus that created fear in him about getting married again?

  Mattheus walked out on the patio behind Cindy then. “Listen, we can invite your family, if you want,” he offered.

  Cindy spun around and stared at him. “You’re scaring me, Mattheus,” she breathed. “You sound crazy, terrified. That’s not a way to get married, out of fear that if you don’t do it now, you never will.”

  “Is it crazy to want to be together forever and make sure nothing gets in the way?” Mattheus cried out.

  Cindy was beside herself. “Mattheus, we’ve planned a wedding, people are coming, the hotel is holding their rooms for them. We’ve had a slight delay to help your friend Stan out. If we really love each other what exactly can get in the way?”

  Mattheus looked at Cindy helplessly.

  “Did something new turn up in the case, anything at all?” Cindy asked. “Think about it carefully.”

  “Nothing much,” Mattheus answered, trying to regain his composure. “I found out that an old boyfriend of Fern’s, a guy named Kirk, is down here at the bachelorette party with his new girlfriend.”

  Cindy wondered whether this had anything to do with it. “So?” she asked. “Did Kirk crash the party? Was he invited?”

  “Seems he was invited,” said Mattheus.

  “By who?” asked Cindy.

  “That we have to find out,” said Mattheus. “Do you find it strange that Fern invited her ex-boyfriend to a party like this?”

  “Yes, of course it’s odd,” Cindy said slowly. “Did you think she was cheating behind Dale’s back with him? Is that what’s got you so flustered?”

  Mattheus shook his head clearly. “Of course not,” he said, more like himself now.

  “Did you meet Kirk?” Cindy wanted to focus on this development and put talk of their wedding in the background for now.

  “No, I haven’t met him yet,” said Mattheus, “you can do that if you want to. My next step is to dig into Dale’s background. Whether or not he’s in custody, I’m still pretty sure this is our guy.”

  Cindy was glad she’d gotten Mattheus onto another track. She had no idea what specifically had made him want to get married so quickly, but she’d find out later on. Right now, they had a case to solve.

  Cindy stepped closer and took Mattheus’s hands in hers. “I love you, Mattheus,” she said softly then, wanting to reassure him. “You can count on me, you can count on our love.”

  Mattheus took a deep breath. “I guess I took things too far, I went out on a limb.”

  “You became terrified,” Cindy whispered.

  “I did,” he agreed.

  “That’s never a reason to get married,” she went on. “You have to trust me completely, you have to trust our love.”

  Mattheus closed his eyes a moment.

  “Do you trust me, Mattheus?” Cindy looked at him intently.

  He opened his eyes quickly and gazed back at her. “Of course I do,” he said promptly, “it’s just that sometimes old fears arise.”

  “Old fears always arise,” said Cindy, holding his hands more tightly. “They’re like waves in the ocean rising and falling. We can’t let them rule our lives.”

  Mattheus put his arms around Cindy then and pulled her close to him.

  After a few moments, smiling, Cindy pulled away. “Okay, let’s go on with the case. What are the next steps?” she asked as thankfully, Mattheus’s phone rang and he picked it up immediately.

  Cindy watched him listen to the caller and nod his head. Thankfully, he seemed much more himself once again.

  “Okay, I got it,” Mattheus said into the phone. “Thanks for letting me know.”

  “What?” asked Cindy when he hung up.

  “Medical examiner’s report is in,” Mattheus replied. “Whoever did it, choked her. Death by strangulation. It was swift, quick, to the point. There were fingerprints on the body too, but the bad news is they don’t belong to Dale. They’re running the fingerprints through police records, and no matches yet.”

  Cindy felt uneasy. “Dale’s off the hook,” she murmured.

  “Yes and no.” Mattheus’s jaw clenched. “They’re not going to let him go far. With or without physical evidence, he’s a person of interest on the case, and he’s still my main guy.”

  *

  As soon as news was released that the fingerprints on the body didn’t belong to Dale, the girls at the party started calling Cindy, one after another. What happens now? They wanted to know. Cindy was surprised at how nervous they were about having Dale on the loose, wandering around among them.

  Marge was the most disturbed by it. She called Cindy several times with different questions. “I can’t believe they’re letting Dale go,” she murmured.

  “They’re not letting him go,” Cindy reassured her, “they just don’t have the evidence to hold him with yet.”

  “Yet, is the operative word,” Marge replied. “I thought the public fight he had with Fern was enough. Guess I was wrong about that.”

  “Don’t worry, he can’t go far,” said Cindy. “Dale’s barred from leaving the island right now, like everyone else.”

  “I still don’t like it,” Marge rumbled. “He’s going to be more angry than usual. Who knows who he’ll suspect? We could all be in danger.”

  Marge’s fear was definitely a red flag for Cindy.

  “I want you to come over and talk to Dale again,” Marge continued. “I’m sure you’ll be able to dig up something on him.”

  “I’ll talk to him,” said Cindy. “I’ll come over and talk to all of you.”

  “Thanks.” Marge sounded relieved. “Most likely, Dale’s gonna be hanging out now with Willow. He insisted that Fern invite her to the party. Willow’s one of Dale’s best friends. They actually grew up together.”

  “It’s good he has someone here for him now,” Cindy remarked. “This has got to be an awful ordeal for him as well.”

  “Who knows?” Marge replied. “No one likes Willow very much. And Fern didn’t like her either.”

  Cindy wondered if Marge were telling her something more. Obviously, Cindy wanted to talk to Willow as soon as possible.

  “And what about Kirk?” Cindy suddenly thought of him. “I’d like to talk to Kirk as well.” Cindy hoped that Marge would set up the meetings.

  “Why Kirk?” Marge suddenly seemed defensive.

  “I heard he was Fern’s ex-boyfriend,” Cindy replied.

  Marge got quieter. “You certainly heard a lot of things in a short time,” she said.

  “Why would an ex-boyfriend show up at a bachelorette party?” asked Cindy.

  “Why wouldn’t he?” Marge sounded offended.

  “Kirk’s here with his current girlfriend, correct?” Cindy wanted to know everything about him.

  “Yes.” Marge seemed reluctant to say more.

  Cindy sensed something important going on. “Who exactly invited Kirk to this party?”

  “That’s an odd question.” Marge was clearly stalling.

  “No, it isn’t,” said Cindy, emphatically. “I need to know how come he appeared.”

  “I invited him,” Marge finally answered bluntly, “and I don’t care what anybody else says about it. It was the right thing to do, for everyone.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Cindy wanted to talk to Dale and Willow before exploring others at the party. She asked Marge to set up the appointment and Marge was delighted to be of help. She herself was curious to see what Cindy felt about Willow and what she found out.

  “Willow’s a little uppity,” Marge filled Cindy in. “She usually stays apart from the rest of us. Carrie thinks it’s because she doesn’t really know us that well, or fit in.”

  As soon as Marge called, to Cindy’s delight, Willow was actually eager to meet with her. Willow was on her way downtown to a shop that sold beads, handmade necklaces, and hand-painted scarves. Could Cindy meet her there?

  Cindy was delighted to go down to talk to her. Mattheus was busy digging into Dale’s background at the police station and it was a relief to get away from the hotel. Cindy could focus better on the case anyway in a different environment.

  Cindy grabbed a cab, went downtown, and got out at the main juncture. She decided to walk along the winding streets until she found the street the shop was located on. Walking alone and absorbing new sights and sounds had always been a wonderful way for Cindy to reflect and get new insight.

  Soon Cindy located the street she was looking for. It was hidden away in an alley behind the main thoroughfare, a narrow cobblestone street with lush trees all along it. Small stucco houses in which the shops were located lined the street, and huge purple flowers bloomed around them.

  In front of a yellow stucco house an uneven hand-painted wooden sign said Beads, Scarves, Necklaces. Outside was a small wooden bench. Cindy half expected Willow to be standing in front waiting for her. She wasn’t.

  Cindy went inside the shop, which was narrow and packed with all kinds of beautiful scarves, beads, and necklaces hanging on hooks and displayed in small cases. Wherever you looked were intense patches of color. A few customers drifted around and the back of the shop overlooked a small garden.

  Suddenly Cindy noticed a tall, young woman with chestnut hair, dressed in a light burgundy print dress, carefully going through the beads.

  “Willow?” asked Cindy, cautiously.

  The young woman looked over at Cindy, intensely. She was actually beautiful, with high cheekbones and huge gray eyes with lots of dark eye makeup.